AMA: AI needs governance policies prior to adoption and physician input on the front-end

AMA President Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld is a practicing anesthesiologist.

Photo: Courtesy of the AMA President Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld

When American Medical Association president Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld takes the stage in San Diego this month during the HIMSS' AI in Healthcare Forum, he brings AMA principles for augmented intelligence development, deployment and use that were worked out as he began his tenure leading the national physician organization.

Ehrenfeld was sworn in as president in June during the annual meeting of the American Medical Association House of Delegates. During the same meeting, the nation's physicians agreed to develop AI principles and recommendations to advise policymakers and protect patients.

The AMA board of directors approved and released the principles to AI development this November. 

Armed with this information, Ehrenfeld will speak at the HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum in San Diego from 2:30 to 3 p.m. on Friday, December 15 for the "Closing Keynote: Unlocking the Potential: AMA's Initiatives in Advancing AI in Medicine."

Technology and AI are disrupting healthcare, and there are no signs of it slowing down, Ehrenfeld said during a recent interview with Healthcare Finance News.

President Biden's October executive order on AI is not a substitution for effective regulation, he said. Governance policies should be in place prior to its adoption and use.

Whatever is promulgated for AI must be safe before it's brought to the market, Ehrenfeld said. Physicians must be brought in on the front-end of development to make sure AI works. Currently, much needs to be done to bring physicians into the loop, he said. 

AI and machine learning can improve outcomes, reduce administrative tasks and improve management, but there may be an overreliance on these tools if the risk in implementation makes inefficiencies worse.

Clinical decisions influenced by AI must be made with human intervention points, he said. Also, implementation of AI should avoid exacerbating pain points for physicians.

Physicians have experienced the burden of new healthcare technology. Electronic health record implementation has topped the dissatisfaction list for physicians for years.

"We have seen so much technology that's a burden, rather than an asset," Ehrenfeld said. 

Above all else healthcare AI must be designed and deployed in a manner that is ethical, equitable, responsible and transparent, he said. 

Many physicians are already using AI in their practices, he said, with most of it being for clinical documentation. Sixty-five percent are enthusiastic about its use.

The bottom line, Ehrenfeld said, is, "Physicians who use AI will replace those that don't."

Since taking the helm at the American Medical Association, Ehrenfeld has been an outspoken proponent for physicians, advocating for greater government reimbursement and the need to ease their administrative burden to prevent burnout and its consequences, as outlined in an AMA Recovery Plan for America's Physicians.

Ehrenfeld was elected to the AMA Board of Trustees in 2014, serving as chair from 2019 to 2020. He is the first openly gay person to serve as AMA president.

Ehrenfeld is a practicing anesthesiologist, senior associate dean and tenured professor of anesthesiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he leads a statewide health philanthropy, the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment. 

He is also an adjunct professor of anesthesiology and health policy at Vanderbilt University and adjunct professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. 

He is a graduate of Haverford College, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health. 

Outside of his medical career, Ehrenfeld is an Emmy-nominated photographer and 2015 recipient of a White House News Photographers Association award for his work in capturing and advocating for the lives of LGBTQ+ people. He has served as a special advisor to the 20th U.S. Surgeon General and provides technical expertise as a consultant to the World Health Organization Digital Health Technical Advisory Group.

He is a combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan during both Operation Enduring Freedom and Resolute Support Mission.

Ehrenfeld is the closing keynote speaker, Friday, December 15, from 2:30 to 3 p.m. in "Closing Keynote: Unlocking the Potential: AMA's Initiatives in Advancing AI in Medicine"

Attend this session at the HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum taking place December 14-15, 2023 in San Diego, California. Learn more and register.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org